A Taste of Death
by Akia Korohan
Summary: Left all alone in the world, Genma turns to his best friend Hayate for comfort. WARNING: Character Death, Yaoi.
1. Chapter 1

_Moonlight glancing off a shining blade, so sharp it makes not a sound as it slices through the air. He saw it, she didn't. He couldn't warn her, didn't have time, wouldn't be able to reach her, not in time._

She didn't even have time to scream.

The only sound that broke though the night was a sudden sickening squelch ans crunch as flesh was punctured and bones crushed. He watched silently as his blonde haired wife fell from the branch into the undergrowth below. She didn't stand a chance.

He stays where he is, crouched in his own tree, silent, motionless, impassive. She's not his wife right now, right now she's his teammate. He'll mourn her later.

Moonlight glancing off the blade which falls to the ground. More blood, so much blood, killer and victim lay side by side, dead.

He leaves her, fleeing from the scene, leaping through the tree canopy, the scroll clutched in his sweaty hand. He's been close to death before, but now he couldn't feel the death he knew was creeping up on him.

The scroll slipped from his fingers and fell through the trees below. A dark shadow shot across below him. His foot slipped on the branch and he fell through the canopy, grabbing blindly for a branch amid the darkness where the moonlight didn't pierce.

The branch cracked below his fingers and he closed his eyes tight,. waiting for the bite of cold steel he knew was inevitable.

His body free fell through the trees and hit the muddy ground with a thump.

"Genma-kun."

The dark haired boy didn't look up, his hazel eyes fixed firmly on the floor, hand wrapped tightly around the headband he had been given. His mother's headband.

The Yondaime sighed and crouched down in front of the child. Not even a ninja yet and he was already faced with the experience of loosing someone close to him. Eleven was too young to loose one's parents. He put a finger under the boy's chin and pushed his head up, meeting the red rimed eyes and pained expression.

"W-where's dad?" The young boy choked out, rubbing his eyes and wiping away the tears that had finally stopped.

Minato sighed. How did you tell a child his father is missing, presumed dead, when he has already lost his mother?

"I'm on my own, aren't I?"

The blonde man nodded sadly and let go of the boy's chin, placing the hand on a shaking shoulder instead. He saw a tear run down the boy's cheek, half hidden by the dark bangs which hung over his eyes.

For a long while they stayed like that, the Hokage crouched motionless before a silent academy student.

*************************

A month passed and he grew used to his life with Hayate, the ill boy becoming his anchor when the world began to overwhelm him. When he awoke screaming in his sleep, or cried out for his parents at night, Hayate was there, always a comfort in the darkness, always awake the moment Genma was.

He grew used to life with Hayate's family, his father's work as a Tokubetsu Jounin, his mother's love for curry, his older sister sitting before the TV polishing her weapons. She had begun to teach Hayate to use a katana. She's tried to teach Genma too, but he'd turned out to be lousy. Instead he'd taken up spitting cocktail sticks at a pin board to vent his frustrations. Hayate's father was now teaching him to use senbon.

Over time he became integrated into family life, and by the time the graduation exam came around he was more than ready.

******************

"Genma-kun, henge if you would."

He nodded, hair falling in his eyes as he did so, the dark bangs obscuring his hazel eyes for a few brief seconds.

"Henge no jutsu." A perfect replica of the black haired Yukari-sensei appeared, the only difference in the way Yukari-Genma's black eyes were hidden by the spiky Uchiha black bangs. With a pip he was himself again, hands in the pockets of his black pants and the senbon twitched in his mouth.

"Congratulations," she handed the dark haired boy a headband. He took it silently, smiling at the sensei. It was forced and painful, but he couldn't bring himself to smile like he felt it.


	2. Chapter 2

_He sped through the trees, long hair whipping out behind him, senbon clenched firmly between his teeth and a kunai in his hand. He can smell the blood of his prey, see it glistening on the leaves on the forest floor far below, reflecting what little light there was from the silver of the moon hanging high in the cloud filled sky._

The tokubetsu leapt forwards through the moonlit canopy, senbon ready, the silvery light glancing off the metal plate at the back of his bandanna as he surges towards his terrified prey.

He never stood a chance. The senbon flew from his lips and the man tripped, his body going numb from the point at which the needle entered his neck.

Genma leapt down beside his fallen prey and pulled the scroll from his jacket. He unfurled it slowly, watching the Rock-nin from the edge of his vision. He lay motionless on the dry leafy ground. By the light of the moon the dark haired Leaf-nin found the blue prints of the Hokage mountain.

With a small smile he killed the victim quickly and burned his body before vanishing back into the darkness.

"Gen?"

The 14-year-old's voice reached him the moment he shut the door behind him. He could just make out the dark haired boy in the unlit corridor ahead of him.

"I'm fine," he whispered and the boy's frame relaxed. Genma walked slowly down the corridor towards him, exhaustion evident in his pace.

"Fuck, Gen, how many missions have you done today?" He caught the jounin as he fell, lifting the larger boy's body into his surprisingly strong arms. He dropped the unconscious body onto his bed and walked over to his own on the other side of the room.

He felt the tickling in his throat as he disturbed some of the dust underneath his bed and coughed quietly into his hand.

"Yate?"

He coughed again, harder and felt Genma's weight on the edge of the bed, the arm around his shoulders stilling his shaking body.

"You ok?" He asked quietly when his friend's coughs had subsided.

Hayate nodded. Not that he'd tell Genma, but the taste of blood was very real in his mouth. He'd see a medic in the morning.

"Go to sleep Yate, we'll find you a medic-nin in the morning, when we're both more awake." He stayed with Hayate until the sick boy's breathing had evened out and he had finally succumbed to sleep. Too tired to move back to his own bed, he lay down beside Hayate, fearing the day when he would never be able to do this again. He could tell it was only a matter of time before this terminal illness stole his best friend away.

******************

The morning sun illuminated the room, shining straight onto Genma's face. With a grunt he buried his face into his pillow only to find it to be solid and protesting.

"Genma, you have your own bed you know."

"Huh?" He lifted his head, squinting at the bright light which momentarily blinded him and met Hayate's shy grin.

"I said you do have your own bed."

"Mh. Too tired to move last night. Still am."

Hayate laughed and crawled out from under Genma's arm which had been slung around his waist while he slept. Genma was never a morning person. Never was and never would be he reasoned as he watched the jounin pull the pillow over his head.

Genma waited until he heard Hayate's footsteps down the hall before emerging from his duvet cocoon and falling over the edge of the bed. He opened his eyes blearily and crawled over to his own bed, climbing onto it to pull off his shirt, wishing he hadn't slept in it last night.

Hayate returned a few minutes later while Genma was coming out of the shower, looking much more awake that he had done.

"I'll never understand how you can manage long missions when you don't seem to be able to wake up."

"I can fight asleep."

"No you can't. I bet you slept through that ambush last year didn't you. You just lay there and let the others fight." Hayate leant against the closed door laughing at his friend's put out expression.

"I was awake." He scowled at Hayate who was almost falling over laughing and threw a pillow at him. It hit him smack in the face.

Hayate threw the pillow back and jumped onto his bed, grabbing his own pillow ready to defend himself.

"You're on." Genma adjusted his grip on his pillow-weapon and charged at the younger boy.

Hayate ducked and swung out with his own pillow, hitting Genma's leg with it, laughing as the long-haired boy nearly fell over. In retaliation Genma dropped the pillow and grabbed Hayate's legs, pulling until he fell onto the bed, the frame creaking in protest as Genma leapt on him.

"Hey! No fair!" Hayate yelled, hitting Genma on the head with the pillow. "Unfair advantage!"

"All's fair in love and war." He grinned and almost bit his tongue when Hayate walloped him once more. He had long ago discovered that Hayate was ticklish and decided to use that knowledge to his advantage, running his hands down the younger boy's sides.

Hayate squealed and squirmed, trying to escape from Genma's torture.

"Mercy, mercy!" He rolled out of the way, knocking Genma as he tried to escape.

Genma's balance hadn't been all that stable before hand and at the force on his leg he found himself precariously perched on the bed, knees spread either side of Hayate's slim hips and his hands braced above his head. He was suddenly very aware of how under dressed he was compared to the smaller nin.

Hayate coughed slightly, trying not to blush as his eyes trailed over Genma's well defined frame right down to his boxers which hung low on his hips.

For a few seconds, neither boy dared move, both too embarrassed to do anything about their current predicament, until Hayate suddenly grabbed Genma's head and pulled his down, kissing him gently.

"Hayate?" He asked when he had regained his bearings, the shock ebbing out of his system.

Hayate only coughed in reply.

Genma sighed and sat back on his haunches, only to realize that it now put his crotch dangerously close to Hayate's .

"Sorry. It's just, I saw my team mates kissing and wondered what was so great about it."

Genma chuckled. "How about I show you a real kiss." Without waiting for any sigh of consent, Genma crawled back to his original position and bent down until his face was less than half an inch from Hayate's. He could feel the younger boy's hot breath on his face and tilted his head slightly, closing the gap between them.

Hayate gasped as he felt Genma's lips ghost over his and Genma took it as an opportunity to plunge his tongue between Hayate's parted lips.

At first he was afraid the boy would push him away, but after a moment he relaxed and poked Genma's tongue tentatively with his own.

Genma grinned into the kiss and poked his tongue deeper into Hayate's mouth, licking around the younger boy's molars as Hayate whimpered below him. He could feel his best friend growing hard beneath him and was sure he was in a similar state.

He groaned into the kiss when Hayate bucked his hips up, his crotch rubbing against Genma's equally sensitized member. He moved a hand from above Hayate's head once he was sure he wasn't about to fall on the other boy and ran in down his chest, feeling for a nipple which pebbled beneath his ministrations.

Hayate pulled away with a gasp, breathing harshly as Genma's mouth trailed down his neck instead, nibbling at the flesh there, sucking in places and leaving small bruises in his wake. His hand trailed north, rubbing over Genma's shoulders and tangling in his hair, pulling him up for another kiss.

Genma moved happily, laying back over Hayate and delving his tongue back into the warm velvet of his mouth. He wasn't sure what Hayate tasted of but there was a faint undertone of blood about it. He wondered vaguely if this was what death tasted of.

He stopped thinking and rocked his hips into Hayate's causing the black-haired nin to moan into his mouth, allowing Genma even more access. He ran a hand down Hayate's stomach and slipped it under his shirt, rubbing over the hard muscles there.

"Boys, breakfa-"

They jumped apart, both blushing deeply and looked up to see Hayate's mother standing in the doorway looking everywhere but at them,

"Breakfast's ready, I suggest you tidy yourselves up first."

Hayate and Genma turned to each other as the matriarch of the Gekkou family left the room. They both burst into laughter when her faint voice reached them.

"Honestly, kids these days."


	3. Chapter 3

_The sun shone brightly outside and cast a glow over the two shinobi laying on the bed. Genma shifted slightly, tightening his grip upon the frail man in his arms. His chin rested on top of Hayate's head, his breath teasing the fine strands of dark hair._

His eyes opened slowly as he yawned, stretching his arms above his head.

Hayate grunted as his stirred, the movement having woken him. He sat up slowly, coughing quietly into his hand before grabbing a bottle of pills from the bedside table and downing two of them.

"I really wish you'd take water with them, always makes me worry you're gonna choke."

Hayate rolled his eyes but drank the half full glass of water Genma handed him from his side of the bed. He kissed the brown-haired ninja and slid out of bed, heading for the bathroom, relishing the pleasant ache in his backside.

He coughed again, and this time he could defiantly taste blood. He could feel the liquid bubbling up his throat as he lent over, couging violently as the red liquid splashed onto the ground in front of him. He grimaced at the overpowering taste and pushed himself to his feet. He could feel the wound in his stomach bleeding sluggishly. It wasn't deep, but the punch that had followed it had surely caused some internal damage.

He adjusted his grip on his katana and leapt forwards, ignoring the burning sensation in his stomach. His sword came down hard on Baki's shoulder but stopped dead, unable to pierce the thick armor.

Baki's face twisted into a malevolent sneer. He allowed Hayate's sword to slip from his shoulder before he readied his own, surging forward towards the young man.

Hayate's sword intercepted Baki's, but he didn't expect the manual attack to be distracting him from the wind blade he soon felt cutting through his skin.

Pain shot through his body from the points where the elemental swords pierced, until he had been stabbed so many times over by the invisible blades that his body hurt all over.

He welcomed the darkness which stole him over.

_It was raining, the sky so over cast that lanterns were lit in all the shops they'd passed that morning on their way here. There, the kia stone. The anniversary of their death. He couldn't believe it had been five years ago they'd been killed._

He bent and lay a bouquet of flowers at the base of the stone. Beside him Hayate mirrored his movements.

"Don't leave me Hayate, you're all I have left."

"Don't worry Gen, I'll always be here.

"Shiranui-san!"

Genma's head snapped up instantly, immediately fearing the worst. He could tell it was something bad judging by the state of the medic nin who appeared before him.

"What is it?"

"It's Gekkou-san. He's-"

Genma jumped to his feet. "Hayate! Where is he?"

"Hospital," the medic managed to pant out, still trying to catch his breath.

He made it across the village in record time.

The doors of the hospital burst open as Genma ran in, startling the poor secretary when he demanded to know where Hayate was.

"Down the hall on the left and turn right when you get to the end. The-" Genma ran off and she ended up yelling after him.

"You can't go in there!"

_Genma couldn't help himself. He had to laugh._

Hayate was dangling five feet above the ground, caught in a trap.

"Stop laughing you bastard. I might have died!"

"Well if you're caught by a trap made by an academy student I dare say you deserve to die."

He'd never noticed before what a horrible shade of white hospitals were. Sitting outside theater number three, he had a new respect for medics; he didn't think he'd stay sane around so much clinical white.

He glanced at the hinged wooden door again, as if he could see Hayate through the windowless obstruction.

The door opened and closed again.

"How is he?"

"I'm sorry, Shiranui-san."

Genma looked at the tags pressed into his hand. The name starred mockingly back at him. His. His dog tags. His hand closed around Hayate's, the ones he wore around his own neck.

_Hayate laughed as he pulled on his pants, stepping out of grope range of the brunette ninja on the bed._

"Sorry baby, but I've got a mission." He picked up his dog tags to put them on but hesitated, throwing them at Genma instead.

"Here, something to remember me by."

"Then you'd better have mine hadn't you."

Genma slid out of bed and hung his own tags around Hayate's neck, the metal plates resting on his still bare chest.

"Don't forget me now will you."

"How could I possibly forget you?" He rested his forehead against Genma's.

"Love you 'Yate."

"Love you too."


End file.
